Hundreds of camels have died of thirst after Qatari farmers were expelled from Saudi Arabia during a diplomatic rift and forced to trek across the desert.

According to the Independent, animals collapsed at the border between the two nations as only a few hundred camels were allowed to cross each day.

Remaining camels were herded into huge pens and left in the heat which reached 50 degrees Celsius. Some owners said the camels were herded out en masse, and owners spent days during Ramadan trying to identify them.

Other animals were left to die by the side of the road. Some farmers left immediately, while others and their animals were still travelling back two weeks after the diplomatic rift.

Camel owner, Said Al Hajari said: “It was hard, the camels were exhausted because they did not know which way to go.”

Camel owner, Hussein Al-Marri, from Abu Samra, said: “I have returned from Saudi Arabia. I myself saw more than 100 dead camels on the road as well as hundreds of lost camels and sheep.”